garlic

The Milk Calendar has been part of my kitchen for as long back as I can remember.

At first I didn’t give it much thought. I mean, it was a yearly addition to the calendars that would come into our home before the new year started. Long before you carried your calendar and daytimer in your pocket (read: phone) we actually hung up a hard copy of the year on the wall! (minor amount of sarcasm noted) I always liked flipping through this iconic calendar, brought to Canadians by Dairy Farmers of Canada, for the photos, and of course, the recipes. But back then, it was more likely that my sister, or my mom who would do the actual cooking of said recipes. I gladly ate their hard work. I loved the idea of a collection of recipes using dairy. I love my milk, butter, cottage cheese, yogurt, cheese, cheese, cheese! A world without cheddar or blue or brie or chèvre would be such a sad place. Dairy is such a tasty way to get the protein our bodies need.

But then I moved out on my own, and The Milk Calendar became a lot more dear to me. I was single, on a tight budget, and was in constant need of inspiration. Step in, this gift to Canadians. This free mini cookbook, featuring recipes that we could all attempt, has been around since 1974! Over the years the likes of James Barber, Christine Cushing, Anna Olson and so many other Canadian chefs have contributed their extreme talents to this calendar. Family oriented, easily accessible ingredients, nutritious, and something for every month of the year.

And now, The Milk Calendar is an institution. In fact, recently Jim and I were grabbing breakfast at one of Toronto’s oldest, and most iconic diners, The Senator. Sitting in our booth, Jim opened up the Saturday paper for a leisurely read. Guess what was tucked inside? Yep, you guessed it. The Milk Calendar!

I have the pleasure of partnering with the Dairy Farmers of Canada to showcase the calendar this year. This means that I get to give you a taste of what is in this year’s collection of recipes. This year’s Milk Calendar celebrates local and sustainable ingredients, and is chock-full of delicious recipes that feature the goodness of 100% milk. And I’m so happy with the recipe I get to make. We’re heading into a more indulgent time of the year right about now. Baking, roasting, decadent appetizers, heavy sauces and gravies etc. So I really wanted to try something that would be a moment’s relief to cut through all the richness. Step in Roasted Cauliflower Soup.

What was initially fabulous about this recipe, is that I had every ingredient already at home, from the cauliflower down to the sumac. A simple, yet most flavourful soup, it comes together easily. Roasting the cauliflower and carrot together, and then adding them to simmering broth filled with onion, garlic, a bay leaf and thyme, only a bit more simmering was required. Then grainy mustard and milk are added. Whiz it all up until it is velvety, and dinner is ready. What makes this a delight of a soup, are the finishing touches. Reserved roasted cauliflower florets, dill and sumac (or lemon, if you can’t find sumac) totally brighten up what could be a cloying or rich soup. It’s a fabulous recipe by Heather Trim, who developed this year’s healthy and yummy options. Often cream is added to these puréed soups, but the milk that the recipe calls for is just fine. It still ends up being a velvety soup. In fact, if it’s too thick for your liking, just add a touch more milk.

You can use the chicken stock that the recipe calls for, which I did. It adds a buttery depth, of course. But if you would rather keep it entirely vegetarian use vegetable stock, or why not use my Faux Chicken Bouillon Powder for the stock. Trust me, you won’t notice the difference.

Thank you Milk Calendar for being part of our lives. Like a good pair of jeans, a favourite book, teddy bear, or that one song that is your karaoke favourite, the Milk Calendar is a comfortable and dependable fixture. And a little piece of Canadiana 🙂

You really need to check out all the recipes from this year’s calendar (they range from Five Spice Gingerbread Pear Muffins to a Seafood Pizza, to Pork Souvlaki with Haloumi Pepper Skewers to a Mile High Chocolate Pudding Pie! And so many more). You can even find out how to get your own calendar! What’s even better, all the recipes from years past have been archived on the website for easy access and heaps of cooking pleasure. Check it all out here: Milk Calendar.

This post is sponsored by Dairy Farmers of Canada.

Love Jen

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Oven-Roasted Cauliflower Soup

A cozy soup prepared with roasted cauliflower and carrot, and topped with florets, dill and sumac. Perfect to ward off the winter chill!

Course
Soup

Prep Time15minutes

Cook Time40minutes

Total Time55minutes

Servings6

Ingredients

1medium head of cauliflower, cut into florets (about 8 cups)

1carrot, coarsely chopped (about 1 cup)

1tbsp(15 ml) butter, melted

1onion, chopped

2clovesof garlic, minced

1tsp(5 ml) dried thyme leaves

1bay leaf

4cups(900 ml- to 1 litre carton) chicken or vegetable stock

1tbsp(15 ml) grainy dijon mustard

1cup(250 ml) milk

freshly ground pepper

salt(optional)

1/4cup(60 ml) coarsely chopped fresh dill

ground sumac or fresh lemon zest(optional)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425F (220C)

Place the cauliflower florets onto a large baking sheet. Add the carrots. Drizzle the melted butter over them all and toss well to coat.

Kabocha, Delicata, Butternut, Acorn, Hubbard, the list of tasty gourds can go on and on.

It’s squash season. That cozy, sweater wearing, fireplace crackling, wind howling time of year has made it’s arrival once again. And I’m not complaining one bit. Sure, the wind is more biting, so tracking down all the gloves and scarves has to be attended to. And the days are dark so early, that I want to hit the hay at 7pm just because it ‘looks’ like I should!

But this is the time of year that we get to justify the existence of our ovens. It gets put into overdrive as we start baking, roasting, braising, broiling, and all the other fun things our ovens can do for us. And because of this, we get to surround ourselves with the intoxicating aromas of curry, gingerbread, molasses, turkey, mint, etc. I just love it!!

The other week I came home with a good sized kabocha squash. It has the colour of an acorn squash, but is squatter and rounder. I knew for sure I would be baking up another one of Aimee’s Winter Squash Pies, it was such a hit with Jim the last time I baked it up. And the recipe is a joy to make up. A one bowl and whisk type of filling, and using my no fail Perfect Pie Crust recipe. But I realized that there would be enough squash to create another dish with. I decided that I would make soup. It IS soup season, after all.

So I decided that I would do a curried soup. Jim and I are not lovers of too many sweet versions of squash recipes, especially if they are supposed to be savoury dishes. So instead of roasting up squash using maple syrup and brown sugar, we would rather have curry spices and a touch of heat. I knew that this is the way that I would go with this soup as well.

First things first. Roasting off the squash. You see, the pie recipe calls for roasted puréed squash. So instead of trying to figure out how much of the squash I would need for the pie and only roast off that bit, I decided to roast it all off, and then used the leftover purée for the soup. Usually I would not purée the squash for soup in advance, but I figured it would be easier to purée it all off and then store it in the fridge till needed. I could even freeze any that didn’t get used right away. But no worries, the whole squash got used!

To roast it off, just cut it into large pieces, scoop out the seeds and fibres and place them, skin side down on a parchment lined baking sheet. Drizzle with a little olive oil, and then pop into a 400F oven. Roast until the flesh is softened. Depending on how thick the pieces, this can take anywhere from 30-50 minutes. Just test with a fork. If it can pierce the flesh easily, the squash is ready to come out. Let it cool, and then scoop out the flesh. In batches, and using just enough water to aid the blades, purée the squash meat into a smooth consistency. Try not to add any more water than necessary. If you need to, use a tamper or wooden spoon to periodically push the meat down into the blades. I was able to get about 4 cups of purée, the consistency of canned pumpkin.

For the pie, I ended up using 1 1/2 cups. That left me 2 1/2 cups for the soup. Perfect for soup for four. Now it was just a matter of sautéing onions, garlic and all the best curry spices. I used a mortar and pestle to grind down the cumin seeds, fennel and coriander seeds, and added ground ginger, turmeric and kashmiri pepper to it. These all got added to the softened onion mixture. Then I added my squash purée and some stock. Whisked it all together and warmed it through. Tested for salt and pepper, and finished it off with some whipped cream.

What made this soup fun to serve, was garnishing it with homemade creme fraiche and spicy savoury granola. The granola gave it such a fabulous crunch and extra kick. Do you want the granola recipe? I’ll try and get it added lickety split!

The soup can easily be made with any other squash you can get your hands on. And don’t worry, if you are only using it for the soup, you don’t even have to purée it in advance. You can actually cube it, add it to the onions, garlic, spices and stock. Let it all cook together and then purée with a hand held wand or immersion blender or your stand blender. This will get the onions and garlic also blended up. Either way works wonderfully.

I hope you guys like the idea of taking one gourd, and making dinner and dessert out of it- how handy, and cozy! Only one more question: bowl or mug!?

Love Jen.

5 from 1 vote

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Curried Kabocha Squash Soup

Cozy curry spices, velvety texture, all the warmth you need for the cooler weather in this perfect squash soup

1/8-1/4kashmiri pepper(can be substituted with cayenne pepper) Start with less and then taste later on to see if you can handle more!

1tbspolive oil

1medium onion, finely diced

3garlic cloves, finely minced

4cups(1 litre) vegetable or chicken stock

1tspkosher salt

1tspfresh cracked black pepper

1/4cupwhipping or heavy cream

Instructions

Prepare Squash

You will need approximately 3 cups of cubed kabocha squash. Just cut and remove the seeds, fibres, outside skin, and cut into small 1 inch cubes.

Or,

I used puréed squash (since I had puréed it for a pie already) But you won't need to purée in advance. If you did, you would want to have 2 1/2 cups finished purée. Do this by cutting the squash into pieces, scooping out the seeds and fibres, and drizzling the flesh sides with a bit of olive oil. Roast in a 400F oven till fork tender. Then purée in a blender, using only enough water to help it break down.

Soup

In a mortar and pestle (or spice grinder of some sort) place the cumin, fennel and coriander seeds, the ginger, turmeric, cinnamon and kashmiri pepper. Grind down to get the seeds to a medium coarse grind. Set aside.

In a medium sized stock pot or sauce pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat.

Add the onion and sauté for about 2 minutes till starting to soften. Add the garlic and stir for 1 minute.

Add the spice blend to the onions and stir throughout well and cook till just starting to let off an aroma, about 45 seconds.

Add the squash cubes (or purée) and stock. Stir well to combine and let simmer.

If using the purée, it will really only need about 10 minutes to warm through over medium low heat.

*If using the cubes, cook until softened (about 20-25 minutes) At this point you will use an immersion blender or stand blender to purée the soup into a velvety goodness. Return to the pot.

Season with salt and pepper. Check for heat. Add the whipping cream and stir through till well blended.

Garnish with chopped cilantro, parsley etc. You can also top this with creme fraiche or sour cream, and even a savoury granola, or spiced candied nuts for crunch!

Despite the weatherman, the season is changing from Summer to Autumn. Here in Toronto, someone broke the weather.

But even though we are still experiencing full on Summer temperatures, the calendar reminds us that October is just a few days away. So getting a jump on cozy, comfort food meals is the only practical thing to do. We all crave those homey, comforting dishes that are a joy to whip up, and make the most of all the Autumn produce hitting the stands now. The gourds, squashes, cauliflower, root veggies. It takes a bit more cooking to bring these veggies to their best, and the cooler temperatures just encourage heating up the oven and getting all cozy.

This dish is the perfect vehicle for all those veggies. Don’t you find that roasting off veggies before turning them into soups etc brings out even more flavours?! That wonderful thing that happens when the right temperature causes the outsides to get all caramelized and crisp, while the insides become almost creamy and velvety. It doesn’t get any better than that. And for some reason, I really don’t crave these textures in the warmer months. They seem to suit the leaves of gold, scarlet and russet, the cool, brisk mornings, the cry of the geese as they fly overhead on their journey south… you know what I mean.

This has all the flavours of Morocco in it, and will totally perfume your kitchen. When I first made this dish, I made it with regular Moroccan couscous. The kind that comes together is five minutes with boiling stock added to it. But then I started using Israeli or Pearl couscous. Yes, this is actually a form of pasta, so it does add a different texture to the dish. It does make it more carby, more substantial. But it’s cold out, we need something to stick to our ribs and insulate us, right?! Just justifying a little carb love there, hehe.

But, because it is a pasta, it cooks up like one as well. So it comes together easily as well. And while the pasta is cooking, the veggies are in the oven, all cubed and getting that gorgeous crust on them. Then it is really just a matter of combining the veggies with the couscous, along with all the aromatics: the onions, garlic, parsley, mint etc. And then finally, the garnishes of almonds or pistachios (or both!!) sultanas etc. These are what give the recipe it’s name: those golden sultanas or chopped dried apricots of amber, the slivers of green pistachios of peridot, the gleaming white of the almonds are the opals, and the bright green leaves of the parsley and mint (the emeralds) make for a final dish full of bright colours. Go a step further, and add pomegranate seeds and you’ve just added rubies!

You can totally serve this as a side dish to a wonderful braised lamb shank, or even a chicken tagine. I first showed how to serve it with my Harissa Cornish Game Hens. But if you add enough veggies, and perhaps up the proteins (the nuts, or even some chick peas) this could easily be a full meal. Add a side salad of simple bitter greens in a lemon vinaigrette, and you’re all set. You won’t even miss the meat.

If you want to keep this dish entirely vegetarian, you can switch out the chicken broth for vegetable broth. Or you can dip into your stash of Faux Chicken Bouillon Powder that you whipped up the other week. You haven’t made it yet? Oh dear, fix that! You’ll love how versatile it is. It’s in the Pantry section of the blog. Or just click on the link in the name in the sentence above!

So, yes, Autumn is around the corner, and now you have one more easy peasy meal to whip up for this wonderful time of year.

Love Jen.

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Jewelled Israeli Couscous

A wonderful, aromatic and exotic dish that can be a main meal or a side dish. Perfect with braised lamb shanks, or chicken tagine.

Instructions

Lay out the squash, carrots and cauliflower on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, and the salt and pepper. Toss to coat evenly. Sprinkle with 1/2 tsp harissa powder.

Bake until just tender and crisping up. About 15 minutes. If the cauliflower is ready before the root veggies, remove it to a bowl and let the rest continue roasting.

Heat the olive oil in 2 quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and saute for 3 minutes or so, until turning translucent. Add the garlic and stir for another minute. Add the ras el hanout, cinnamon, the salt and pepper, and hot chili flakes if using, and stir to coat.

Add couscous and sauté, stirring constantly, until well coated and aromatic, about 30-45 seconds.

Add the broth and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until just tender, about 10-12 minutes. Let sit covered for 2-3 minutes. Then fluff with a fork.

Re-season with salt and pepper if desired.

Add the roasted veggies. Reserving a bit from each, add the apricots, sliced almonds mint and parsley. Toss it all gently. Place onto a serving plate or bowl.

Sprinkle the remaining apricots or sultanas, almonds or pistachios, mint and parsley on top for a garnish. Serve.

Recipe Notes

Feel free to swap out the veggies in the couscous. If you only have carrots and cauliflower, go for it. If you want to add zucchini, add cubes of it to the onions and garlic and crisp it up before adding the couscous. Roasted pumpkin would also work great.